HUNTINGTOWN, Md. — Wood Wire & Whimsy, a multi-vendor home décor market, will host its ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 8 at 4250 Hunting Creek Road in Huntingtown. The market plans for a soft opening the weekend of the 8th, and then will open its doors for its grand opening on Sept. 13.
The store is a “multi-vendor vintage market creating repurposed & refinished treasures that transcend time.” It offers home goods ranging from lamps to soap, focusing on local vendors and repurposed or reclaimed items.
But for owner and founder Kim Cox-Baione, the store is more than that — it’s a dream come true, just not in the way she expected.
Cox-Baione worked as a paralegal in Washington, D.C., for most of her career and quit to take care of her husband when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She lost her husband in 2023, just 16 months after his diagnosis.
During their 25-year marriage, Cox-Baione and her husband dreamt of channeling their love for vintage finds and their creativity into a refurbishing and refinishing business of their own once they retired. They completed a few projects together, but her husband passed away before they could make that dream come true together.
Cox-Baione said that back in 2023, she was faced with a crossroads: go back to work and keep doing what she’d been doing all those years? Instead, she accepted that she would no longer be satisfied without putting all her energy into creativity and promoting her core mantra: be the change you want to see in the world.
She began the difficult work of opening the store, working alongside her sister and her daughter-in-law. The result, she says, has been a healing journey that’s taught her about herself just as much as about her craft.
“It’s for him, and it’s for me,” Cox-Baione said. “I think he would be blown away. Like, I cannot believe you’ve done all of this! He was always my biggest cheerleader. But this is also a place of peace. It’s a place of healing. We just want it to feel welcoming and safe for everyone.”
Her long list of amenities and ideas includes kindness T-shirts, complimentary coffee, little free libraries, events on the lawn and an upstairs room for kids to play in so parents have a few minutes to shop. Her values are embedded into the fabric of the business — not just in the products or vendors she brings in, but in the way she’s been able to anticipate what kind of experience each shopper needs to feel cared for and seen.
Cox-Baione said she envisions people sitting on the porch, sipping coffee and reading books from the little libraries. She imagines a lawn full of her neighbors enjoying food trucks and the sunshine. She sees busy parents finding something that brings them joy and people picking out gifts for loved ones. She’s proof that when you stay true to who you are, the dream endures.
“I love turning something old into something usable again and coming up with different purposes,” Cox-Baione said. “We don’t want people to feel like if something is old or ugly or rusted it’s just time to be thrown away. We can make things beautiful again, and serve the community while doing it.”
Wood Wire & Whimsy’s ribbon-cutting is on Friday, Aug. 8. The store will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of that weekend.
After the Sept. 13 grand opening, the normal hours will be every second and fourth weekend of the month, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday through Sunday, though Cox-Baione said those hours may be updated.
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